Not what it seems
by BigZanessaFan1
Summary: Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez get signed up to do a project together. Everyone always saw Troy Bolton as the typical badass, but Gabriella gets to see the real him and the secret that he's been keeping. TxG!
1. Doing a project together

From the moment you walk into your school, you get a label. Geek, emo, gothic, badass… That last one was for Troy Bolton. From the moment he walked through the doors of East High in his cool clothes and his pants almost on his knees, he's been seen as a badass with bad grades and someone who pulls pranks on people all the time. But actually, he only does it to go with his reputation. When he is actually a really good guy with good grades.

"Hey man," Troy said as he walked up to his 'best friend' ,Chad Danforth. No, even he doesn't know the real Troy, in fact, Troy doesn't have any friends. The only people that know the real him are his parents and his sister. Not even his grandparents. "Hey Troy, where were you yesterday?" Chad asked, "you missed the whole party?" "I umm… I couldn't come, family problems," Troy explained. But actually Troy was at the hospital yesterday for his sister. You see, when Troy was 14 he took his parents' car to drive to a friend's house late at night as his parents were out with only one of the two cars. He was supposed to be babysitting his six year old little sister then, so he was going to take her with him to his friend's house.

**Flashback **

"_Come on Lisa, we're going to Nathan's house," 14 year old Troy said to his 6 year old little sister. Lisa stood up and followed Troy outside and into the car, since she didn't know any better. In the car, Troy was singing to entertain Lisa. As siblings with 8 years apart, they got on really well. But when he wasn't paying attention, he lost control of the wheel (he hasn't drive before) and he smashed into a tree which made another car bump into them from behind. "LISA!" he screamed, but then everything wen black._

**End of flashback**

Troy shook his head. He tried to forget all about that night, but he still had nightmares about it. "You should've come to party with us," Chad said, "it was awesome." Troy faked a smile. "Family first man," he said. "Pfft," Chad answered, "and let all those hot girls slip right through your fingers? No thanks." That was another thing. Everyone thought he was a player, OK, because he could get the girls he enjoyed the attention. Every man needs some attention, right? But he never started anything with these girls, I mean, he thought they looked nice and stuff, but there's only one girl, except for his sister, that he like. She has long curly brown hair and an exotic kind of look. She gets good grades and she's very down to earth. Troy once again faked a smile. "Sorry man," he said, "but hey, I have to go now." And without waiting for a reply he took off.

As he walked around a corner he bumped into someone. "Look where you're going!" the girl who he bumped into said. It was her, the girl he had a crush on. Gabriella Montez. "I'm sorry," he said as he leaned down to pick up her books. He picked them up and gave them back to her. "Don't think that because you wear cool clothes and because you're popular that you can just do whatever you want!" Gabriella shouted before she took off. Troy looked after her and sighed. Oh if she knew.

**At class**

"Sit down!" the history teacher yelled as everyone went to their places. "I have a project where you will pair up in two and you'll play a piece that you've mad yourselves with an idea that I will give you. Of course it will have something to do with what we're working on at the moment. Now, I will sign you up in pairs." As the teacher began yelling the names of people who will be paired up together, Troy looked over to Gabriella who was almost in every class he had, history included. As Gabriella looked at him he smiled at her, but she rolled her eyes and looked away again. "Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez!" the teacher yelled. He saw her roll her eyes again, but inside he was screaming! He got to partner up with Gabriella! Yes! Now, he would finally have a reason to talk to her. Gabriella sighed and walked over to him and sat down in the chair next to him. "So, I guess we'll have to work together," she said as the teacher started handing out the papers with all the information on. "Yes, so, when will we meet up?" Troy asked her. "She sighed again before answering: "Umm, tonight at my house? You can come home with me." I nodded. "OK, but hey listen, if you don't want to work with me I can get you a different partner," I said. She smiled. "No, not at all," she answered. She was just being polite. I can tell she hates me. "OK then, I'll see you after school," I said before walking out of the class as the bell just rang.

**After school, outside the building**

Troy's pov

I saw Gabriella sitting on a bench just outside the school. "Hey, are you ready?" I asked her and she stood up once she saw me. "yes, let's go," she said.

As we were walking to Gabriella's house we talked for a bit, about how she lived and her family and stuff. Of course I didn't tell her too much about mine. I wouldn't want her to find out what a jerk I am. When we arrived at her house her mom greeted us before we went up to Gabriella's room to work on the project.

2 hours later we finished writing the piece. "Would you like to stay for a while before you go back home?" Gabriella asked me. "That's very nice, but I better go home, I still have homework to do," I answered. "OK, well, we'll meet up again to practice the play tomorrow or so, is that OK?" she asked. "That's fine," I answered standing up and we started walking downstairs, "I'll see you tomorrow in school Gabriella" "Yea, see you tomorrow Troy," she said smiling before I walked off in the direction of my house.


	2. Crumbled paper

**A/N: OK, so here I am again :). This chapter explains a bit more about Troy's life at home and school. I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except the plot.

Troy's pov :

As i woke up the next morning I took a shower and put on some clothes and received a call from Gabriella saying we couldn't meet up at her house tonight because her mom was having dinner with a few friends and that we'd have to do it at my house. 'Shit' I thought, I couldn't let her find out about Lisa. She would tell everyone at school what a jerk I am, she already hates me! I walked downstairs to see my parents and my little sister of 9 years, who was sitting in a special wheelchair made just for her because of her being paralyzed from the waist down, sitting at the table. I walked over to my sister and gave her a hug. "Hey Lisa, how are you? Slept well?" I asked her. "Yes, thank you," she said in her sweet little voice. She didn't blame me for anything, 'accidents happen', she always says. What a smart little girl. My parents on the other hand weren't that accepting. But they saw how bad I felt about it and decided that I was feeling as much pain as they were.

"Is it OK if someone comes over tonight to work on a project?" I asked my parents. "Of course," my mom answered. "Is he or she going to find me weird?" I heard my sister ask sweetly. She has always been very insecure about her being in a wheelchair and sadly, the doctors say there is little chance for her to be able to walk again. "No, not at all. Plus you'll be asleep before she comes over," I answered smiling at her. "She?" my dad asked. "Yes, a she. Now I have to go. Bye mom and dad, bye Lisa,' I said and hugged her again. "See you tonight Troy!" Lisa said before she waved at me and let me leave for school with a smile on my face.

**At school**

When I arrived at school I was immediately meeted by a few cheerleaders who were all over me, but once again I got rid of them only to find Chad standing at my locker, waiting to tell me how the party what he went to last night was. "Hey man," I said before giving him a box and taking a few books out of my locker for the next period and stuffing a few in there at the same time. "You missed a whole lot last night man, I don't get why you never go with us! You're no fun!" he cried out to me. "I told you, I had this project to work on with Gabriella," I said as I slammed my locker close. "That geek, Montez? Why are you doing a project with her?" he asked me. I sighed before answering: "We got signed up together." He laughed as we started walking off to our homeroom that we had together as he just rambled on about last night.

**At lunch**

As I walked over to the table that I normally sit at with the jocks and the cheerleaders I saw Gabriella sitting at her table with her friends talking about upcoming tests and projects and I found myself smiling at how cute she looked. I shook my head and walked further to my table. As I sat down a cheerleader came and sat down on my lap. "Hi Troy, I missed you last night," she said as she ran her finger down my chest. I smiled a little and put my hand on her lower back and we started talking through lunch. What was a guy to do?

**After lunch**

As I was walking to my next period I bumped into Gabriella and her friends. "Watch where you're going douchebag!" one of her friends screamed. "Guys, it's OK," Gabriella calmly said as they started to walk further, but Gabriella stopped to say something: "This didn't mean anything Bolton." I sighed as I watched them walk off before continuing my walk to my next period that I shared with Gabriella.

When I was sitting in English class, one of the most boring classes ever, I took a paper and started to draw random things on it as the teacher kept going on about a book we'd have to read, but after a while I found myself writing Gabriella's name all over the paper. I sighed and crumbled up the paper, but left it laying on my table.

After class I hurried out like everyone else, but I forgot to take the crumbled up paper with me.

Gabriella's pov:

As I was picking up my books I looked over a Troy's table and saw a crumbled up paper laying on his table. I saw him drawing things on there. He always did that when he was bored. I didn't want to look, but I had this urge to. I walked over to his desk and took the paper and opened it again so I could see what was in there, but I was shocked when I saw what he had actually written on there. He wrote my name several times on that paper surrounded by little hearts. I took the paper, still shocked, and continued to walk to my next period.

**After school**

I decided to not talk to Troy about this, maybe someone else put in on there or maybe he was just pulling a prank on me. You never know with him.

When I was taking some books out of my locker Troy came up to me. "Hey," he said, "is it OK if you come over by 8?" "Yeah, sure," I answered, slamming my locker shut. "Ok then, I'll see you then Gabriella," he said smiling before walking off. He couldn't like me could he? I mean, what does a badass have to do with me, Gabriella Montez, the geek? I shook my head and started to walk home. I really didn't look forward to tonight.


	3. I won't tell

**Disclaimer : i own nothing except the plot. **

Troy's pov:

"Shit, shit, shit!" I yelled through the house as I was hurrying to get my room clean. Gabriella was coming over and I wanted everything to be spotless. I want to impress her.

It was 7:55 pm and mom was making Lisa ready to go to bed. Normally I would go over to her and say goodnight, but I wouldn't want Gabriella to find out so I told Lisa I wouldn't be coming tonight. She was sad, of course, but she understood.

As the clock hit 8:00 pm the doorbell rang. _Just on the dot _I thought and I found myself smiling. I went downstairs and opened the door. There she was, changed out of her dress that she wore to school she was now wearing a pair of jeans, a plain white shirt and some converse with her hair pulled up in a loose bun.

"Hi," I said, "come in." I opened the door further for her to walk in and she stepped inside looking around.

"You have a really nice home," she complimented and smiled at me. She was already acting different than in school.

"Thank you, my mom and dad would appreciate it," I joked. "Let's go up into my room, we can work on it there," I requested her.

"Sure," she said and we both went up to my room.

As we came into my room, which was now spotless, we both sat down on my bed and got out what we already had from our project.

"There's not that much left to do," she said, "I think we can get it finished today."

"OK, that's good," I nodded contently. We started working on the project and after half an hour my mom knocked on the door.

"Yes?" I asked and the door went open, showing my mom. "Hello Gabriella," she said smiling at Gabriella.

"Hello Miss Bolton," Gabriella replied back being the polite girl she was.

"Troy, I need your help with something dear," my mom said.

I looked over at Gabriella and she nodded at me, giving me approval to leave and help my mom.

As I walked outside of my room and closed the door after myself. My mom explained to me that she had trouble putting Lisa to bed.

I walked over to Lisa's room and saw her still sitting in her chair.

"Troy!" my little sister cried out as I gave her a kiss on the head.

"What's wrong? Mom couldn't put you to bed or what did I hear?" I playfully asked her.

She giggled and that immediately put a smile on my face. She was already in her pajama's and all I had to do was put her in her bed. As I picked her up and started laying her in the bed I heard the door open.

"What is it mo-," I started asking as I turned around. Only to see Gabriella standing in the doorway. She looked just as shocked as I was.

"I'm sorry, I was looking for the toilet," she explained and just as quick as she came she left.

I proceeded to put Lisa to bed and gave her a kiss and said goodnight before I went back into my room. Gabriella was already sitting on my bed again working on the project. I just kept standing in the doorway.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" she asked me without even looking up from the paper she was writing on.

"No, no sorry," I quickly said and I walked over to my bed where I sat down next to her. I would have expected her to ask all kinds of questions of Lisa. Who she was and why I was putting her to bed and why there was a big wheelchair next to the bed, but she didn't. She acted as normal and we both just carried on as normal.

Another 45 minutes later the project was done and it was already 9:30pm. Gabriella told her mom she'd be home around 10 so we still had a little bit time to talk.

"Troy?" she asked me and I could see it coming.

"Yes?" I answered looking at her.

"Who was that girl that you were putting to bed earlier on?" she asked me seriously.

I sighed. This topic had to come sooner or later, but I would've rather had later. I ran my hand through my hair and looked down.

"That girl.. she was my sister," I honestly answered her.

"Why.. why was she in a wheelchair?" she asked me.

And I debated with myself. I could tell the truth, but then she'd find me a jerk. Or I could lie, but when the truth would come out she'd find me and even bigger jerk. So I went for the first option.

"Gabriella, when I tell you this, I don't want you to think I'm an egoistic jerk or something like that because I'm not," I explained to her.

"I promise I won't judge you Troy, I'm not like that," she reassured me smiling.

I sighed before I began my explanation: "When I was fourteen I.. I did something I shouldn't of done. I was babysitting Lisa and I wanted to go to some friends, but I would have to take her with me. So I grabbed my mom's car and took Lisa with me. She didn't know that it was bad or anything, she was only six years old. We were acting like fools in the car and singing along to all kinds of songs until.. until I wasn't paying attention to the road anymore and I got into a car crash.. I.." tears started to form into my eyes now as I thought back to the time it happened and I felt Gabriella take my hand and squeeze it.

"I crashed into a tree and another car bumped into us from behind. The car rotated and bumped into another tree on Lisa's side.." I continued with tears streaming down my face now. "She's paralyzed from her waist down and.. she doesn't even blame me. I don't get it. I'm such a bad person and she doesn't judge me or hate me. I've taken care of her since then, I felt so guilty doing that so I went to every doctor's appointment she has. I went to her first day of school, skipping my own school in the meantime. I protect her on the playground when kids make fun of her. For the last 3 years I've put her to bed every night and every night I've told her how sorry I am. But all she says is _'accidents happen'_. I told her this evening that I wouldn't be putting her to bed tonight because I didn't want you to find out about this and I didn't want you to judge me or hate me."

When I was done I looked back up at her and I saw that Gabriella had tears in her eyes.

"I won't judge you Troy. OK it's bad what you did, but what you're doing now is wonderfull," she told me as she squeezed my hand again.

"If people at school would see you like this they wouldn't think of you like a badass anymore. They would think of you as sweet and caring," she explained to me.

"No, they'll think of me as the biggest jerk they've ever met," I told her.

She let go of my hand to let me wipe my tears away. After I wiped them away I looked at her and told her: "Please don't tell anyting about this to anyone. No one can know."

She sighed. "OK Troy, I won't tell."


End file.
